Automatic headlight control device



Aug. 10, 1954 w, BORDEWlECK ET AL 2,686,277

AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHT CONTROL DEVICE Filed Feb. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet lAug. 10, 1954 R. W. BORDEWIECK ETAL AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHT CONTROL DEVICEFiled Feb. 23, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS A; W. Berra-wear J70,@OEJUCK Patented Aug. 10, 1954 AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHT CONTROL DEVICE RobertW. Bordewieck, Southbcro, and James 0. Roebuck, Worcester, Mass,assignors to Moore Electronic Laboratories, Incorporated, Worcester,Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 23, 1950,Serial No. 145,628

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the art ofconnecting anautomatic headlight control device into a vehicle lighting system so asto obtain the advantages of both manual and automatic control withoutthe use of a manual-automatic switch, wherein a new type of foot switchis employed, which when pressed lightly, causes the lights to switchfrom low beam to high beam and when pressed further causes the low beamlights to be switched on.

The method for accomplishing this involves a special switching systemand circuit, and the use of a switch to short circuit the coil of theoutput relay headlight control device to de-energize it; or a switch maybe opened in the circuit of the output relay which would alsodeener'gize it.

The system described provides for manual operation on low beam lights incase the unit or its switching circuits should fail. The funda- Inentalsin any method disclosed for (ls-energizing the" relay in the output ofthe automatic headlight control could not be used with any photo relaycircuit and the disclosures herein contained, should be interpreted alsoas applying to deenergization of other types of photo relay circuits. Insome cases it is undesirable to short circuit the relay, but in allcases the relay circuit may be opened without detriment.

Other objects and advantages or" the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is aschematic wiring diagram of one form of the invention which also employsa manual-automatic switch, wherein a push-to-open switch is used totie-energize the relay;

Fig. 2 is another schematic wiring diagram wherein the manual-automaticswitch is deleted and a short circuiting switch is used to de-energizethe output relay;

Fig. 3 shows another optional schematic wiring diagram wherein there isno option of automatic control, but a push-to-open switch is used totie-energize the output relay of the automatic headlight control;-

Figs. 4A and 4B are vertical sections showing a form of an adapterswitch to be used with the present automobile foot switch to make acombined single switch to perfrom' the functions indicated in Fig. 2,wherein a push-to-short switch is desired;

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the contacts of the switch of Fig. 4 tomake it a push-tooperi switch as is required-for Figs. 1 and 3;

Fig. 6 is a section through a single combined switch designed to operateas a push-tO-cpen switch such as is required in Figs. 1 and 3;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the switch contacts of Fig. 5, and

fig. 8 a detail view showing a side view of the electrical parts of theratchet switch mechanism in Fig. 6.

In Fig. l, a battery it is connected from one terminal by line i toground, and by the other terminal by line H through switch i3, and byline i? to the armature 35 of a special foot switch l0, and thencethrough contact 64 and line 54 to low beam filaments 52 of a vehicleheadlight system; or selectively through contact 63 and line I M to thearmature at I08 of a manualautomatic switch l l3, which when connectedonto contact Hi3 allows current to flow through line HM to the high beamfilaments 50 of the vehicle lighting system. The operation described tothis point is the conventional manual foot switch control of a vehiclelighting system, wherein manipulation of switch it from contact 33 to64, switches the lights from high beam to low beam, or low beam to highbeam, as by a ratchet switch.

However, if switch Hal has its armature 183 connected to contact H2 andarmature 65 of switch '56 is connected to contact 63, current will flowfrom the battery through line I I, switch l3, line i2, armature contactline I32, armature Hi3, contact H2, line Hi5, and line 25, to the powersupply of an automatic headlight control unit 3 and by lines lit and ii!to the armature 3-4 of the output relay 32 of the automatic headlightcontrol unit; and by line H5 and MBA to the arniatures 3i, and 93 ofrelays 32 and When in this position, automatic headlight control 3i?will be energized and the current flowing through the coil 32 in itsoutput circuit will vary in accordance with the illumination strikingthe light sensitive pickup elements of the automatic headlight control,as for instance may be of the type shown in Pat. No. 2,493,307, January3, 1950.

Relay coil 52 is connected by line 3| to the automatic headlight control38 and by line 35 armature 5! of switch '19, contact 62, and line 33 tothe automatic headlight control output circuit. Thus if switch button 89of switch i8 is depressed slightly, armature 6| will break contact andthe coil 32 will become tie-energized thereby permitting the armature3-; to be pulled by its spring 34A onto contact 36, regardless of thelight signal existent on the automatic headlight control 30. Currentwill flow from the armature 34 to contact 36, and thence through therelay coil 92 to ground, pulling armature 96 of relay 92 onto contact 98and thereby allowing current to flow through armature 98, contact 98,and line I to the high beam filaments 50. If switch buttom 60 is notdepressed and sufficient light is available to actuate the automaticheadlight control 3U, relay coil 32 will pull armature 34 onto contact38 thereby causing current to flow through armature 3G, contact 33through coil 82 and thence to ground thereby de-energizing coil 92 andenergizing relay coil 82, allowing spring 96A to open contact 98 andcausing armature 8% to be pulled onto contact 88, thus allowing currentto flow through armature 86, contact 38 and line 90 to low beamfilaments 52. Condensers 84 and 94 are connected across the slave relays82 and 92 to prevent voltage surges from disturbing the electroniccircuit of automatic headlight control 30.

The operation of this circuit is as follows: When switch armature I08 ison contact I ill, the automatic headlight control unit is inoperativeand manual control is accomplished by the ratchet type foot switch 79,wherein successive thrusts on switch button 60 alternately causearmature 65 to switch from contact 53 to contact 6 3 and back to contact63. When switch armature N33 is connected to contact H2 and armature 65of switch ll) is connected onto contact 63, high beam filaments 50 willbe energized in the circuit so long as relay coil 32 is not sufficientlyenergized to pull armature 34 onto contact 38. When sufficient lightstrikes the pickup of automatic headlight control 30, relay coil 32pulls armature 34 onto contact 38 and high beam lights 51? aredeenergized through slave relay 92 and low beam lights 52 are energizedthrough slave relay 82. If the light striking the pickup of theautomatic headlight control 30 is decreased sufficiently, relay coil 32will become de-energized and spring 34A will return armature S5 tocontact 36 thereby de-energizing low beam lights 52 and re-energizingthe high beam lights til again through slave relays 82 and 92. If whenrelay 32 is energized and the lights are on low beam it is desired tooperate on high beam or to flash a signal with the high beam lights, aslight pressure on button 61 of switch ill will open the circuit ofrelay coil 32, de-energizing the relay and allowing high beam lights tostay on so long as button 60 is held thus lightly depressed. However, ifbutton 60 is released and armature 6| re-closes to contact 62, coil 32will immediately be re-energized and the lights will return to low beamproviding there is still sufficient illumination on the pickup of theautomatic headlight control 30 to cause relay 32 to become energized.If, when insufficient light is striking the automatic headlight controlto cause it to energize its relay, it is desired to operate on low beam,foot switch Til can be depressed and switch armature 65 connected tocontact 64 thereby disconnecting the automatic headlight control fromthe system and switching lights manually onto low beam. If it is desiredto remain on low beam through a city, foot switch 70 would be soactuated. When it is desired to return to automatic control, foot switch10 is again actuated and armature 55 returned to contact 63. After aslight warm up period, the vehicle would again operate efiiciently onits automatic headlight control system.

Referring to Fig. 2, all of the numerals included have the samefunctions as in Fig. 1. However, the option of an auxiliary switch formanual.-

automatic control is deleted and contact 63 is always connected so as toenergize the automatic headlight control and supply the armature ofrelay 32 with power. In addition to deleting the manual automatic switchH4, switch 39 replaces switch Til and button 60 now causes armature F4to close onto contact 15 when depressed slightly instead of opening acontact as in Fig. 1. The switch 88 is connected so that line 3?,armature l4 and contact 16 and line 39 constitutes a short circuitacross relay coil 32 when the switch is depressed. Since shortcircuiting a relay de-energizes it as efiectively as opening itscircuit, the operation resulting from this change in connections is thesame as before. Because of the deletion of the manual automatic switchthere is no possibility of feed back through the contacts of relay 32when operating on manual, and contact 36 is connected by line 56directly to the high beam lights 50, and contact 38 is connecteddirectly by line 58 to the low beam lights 52.

The operation of this circuit is as follows: Current will flow frombattery IE through line H,

switch [3, line 12, to armature 65 of switch 80,.

and thence by contact 64 and line 5% directly to low beam lights 52, orselectively by contact t3 and lines 12 and 24 to energize the automaticheadlight control 30, and by line it to the armature 34 of relay 32 andthence through contact 38 and line 55 to high beam filaments 50, orthrough contact 38 and line 58 to the low beam filaments 52. Whensuificient light falls on the photo-sensitive pickup of the automaticheadlight control 30, output coil 32 will pull armature 34 onto contact38 causing the high beam lights to be de-energized and low beam lightsenergized. When light is removed from the pickup of the automaticheadlight control 36, relay 32 is de-energized and spring 34A returnsarmature 34 to the high beam contact 35 switching off the low beamlights and switching on the high beam lights. If, when the unit isoperating on high beam lights it is desired to switch manually to lowbeam lights, a push of switch will switch armature 65 from contact 53 tocontact 64 thus de-energizing the automatic headlight control andputting the lights on manual low beam. If, with the automatic headlightcontrol operating on low beam it is desired to return the lights to highbeam to flash a signal or for any other reason, a light pressure onbutton 60 will cause relay coil 32 to be short circuited thusde-energizing this relay and returning the lights to high beam so longas button 60 is held lightly depressed. It will be seen that thiscircuit has all the advantages of an automatic headlight control systemas well as allowing the operator to run on manual low beam, or to flashhis high beam lights on any time this is desired or necessary.

Referring to Fig. 3 a slight modification of Fig. 2 is shown whereinswitch 8% is replaced by the original switch H3 and a light pressure onbutton 6% opens the circuit of relay coil 32 thus de-energizing therelay. The operation of this circuit and the results obtained areexactly identical to Fig. 2 with this one exception.

Referring now to Fig. 4A, a vertical section of an adaptor switch isshown. Fig. 4B shows a section at right angles of the same switch. Thisswitch is so constructed that it can be clamped on top of a conventionalvehicle foot light switch S to convert this switch to that used in Fig.2, wherein a small thrust closes the push-to-short switch, and a heavythrust actuates the conventional foot dimming switch. Cap 1281s mountedon cylinder I22 by means of a spring I24, and there being an insulatingshaft I26 attached to the cap I20 so that a small thrust on cap i2!)pushes the insulating shaft I25 down forcing contact I28 onto contactI30 and thus closing the circuit between the lugs I32 and led attachedto terminals I28 and I30 respectively by Phosphor bronze fiat springsI35 and I33 respectively. Screws I40 and I42 secure the lugs I32 and I34respectively to a molded insulating material I54 which is in turnsecured by screw I46 to the side wall of cylinder I22. The bottom partof the cylinder I22 is opened up providing two flaps I48 and I56 withholes and 55 for a clamp screw to clamp the assembly to the top of theconventional foot switch S.

It will be seen that a small application of pressure on cap I20 forcescontacts I23 and use together, thereby providing the desiring shortingaction, whereas a heavy application of pressure on cap I28 compressesspring IM and the thrust is passed on through the clamped bands hit andI50 to the top of the conventional vehicle foot switch, not shown.

Referring to Figs. and '7, a modification is shown of the contacts usedin Figs. 4A and 4B. Lugs I60 and IE2 are secured by screws Iiii and I63respectively to the insulating material MA as was used in Fig. 4.However, these terminals are mounted so that the insulating shaft i223bears on spring I65, to push contact I55 away from contact Hi8 upon theapplication of small pressure, thereby providing a push-to-open switchfor use in the circuit for Fig. l or Fig. a.

Referring to Fig. 6 a combination switch is shown, which will performboth the functions of the push-to-open switch and the normal ratchetswitch. A cap I36 is secured to a shaft I82 which is in turn secured toa disk I84, and disk I84 is in turn secured to a rod I85 which has asmall right angle foot I88 on the end thereof, and a pivot to allow thefoot to act as a pawl. A spring I80 holds disk I84 against collar W2,which is secured to cylinder I94 in turn secured to plate I 96.Container I98 is also secured to plate I 96. Contacts 265 and 206 arenormally held closed by the pressure of rod foot I88 when spring I98 haspushed disk 84 against collar IQZ. A light pressure on cap I86 willrelease this force and spring 2 38 will pull contact 236 down therebyopening the circuits between contacts Edd and 296.

Greater pressure will cause foot 288 to rotate switch disk 2H3 of theusual ratchet switch to change contacts from 2I2 to 2H1 to ill? to tie.Actually, the housing I22 of Fig. 4A accomplishes the function of rodI86 when it descends but in any case, the switches of Figs. l to 8conform to switches 60, I6 and Gil, se of Figs. 1-3 inclusive.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof, we donot wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what we claim is:

l. The combination with vehicle hi h and low multifilament headlights, amaster on and off switch therefor, an automatic control thereofeniploying a relay switch, mechanical means to hold the relay inposition to energize one filament, and a coil to hold the relay inposition to energize the other filament upon energization of the coil,of a selector switch digitally operable at the will of the operator torender the coil ineffective, and means normally maintaining the lastnamed switch in position so that the relay coil is effective, so thatconstant pressure thereon is necessary to keep the coil ineffective, andmeans to keep the coil eifective at all times except when either themaster switch is open or the selector switch is actuated.

2. The combination of claim 1 including a third switch to alternatelyenergize the filaments, and mechanical means enabling operation of thethird switch only after actuation of the second switch.

3. The combination in a vehicle headlight system of switch mechanism, asingle pole double throw relay, pair of dual-filament headlamps, and asource of energy for energizing said lamp filaments, said switchmechanism including a single pole double throw selector switch of thestepping type for manually controlling the selection of filaments to beoperated in said headlamps as well as including the normally closedcontacts which constitute a single pole single throw switch connected inseries with the excitation coil of said relay, said relay being anintegral part of a system for automatically controlling the selection offilaments to be operated in said headlamps, one side of said source ofenergy and the junction of the dual filaments in said headlamps beingconnected. together, whereas the other side of said source of energy isconnected to the armature of said manually controlled selector switch,one of the selector terminals of said selector switch being connectedthrough the armature and normally closed contact of said relay to thehigh beam filaments of said headlamps, and both the second selectorterminal of said selector switch and 1e normally open contact of saidrelay being connected to the low beam filaments of said head lamps.

l. The combination in a vehicle headlight sy" tern of a switchmechanism, a single pole double throw relay, a pair of dual filamentheadlamps, and a source of energy for energizing said lamp filaments,said switch mechanism including a single pole double throw selectorswitch of the stepping type for manually controlling the selection offilaments to be operated in said head.- lamps as well as including thenormally open contacts which constitute a single pole single throwswitch connected in parallel with the excitation ooil of said relay,said relay being an integral part of a system for automaticallycontrolling the selection of filaments to be operated in said headlamps, one side of said source of energy and junction of the dualfilaments in said head lamp-s being connected together, the other sideof said source of energy being connected to the armature of saidmanually controlled selector switch, one of the selector terminals ofsaid selector switch being connected through the armature and normallyclosed contact of said relay to the high beam filaments of said headlamps, and both the second selector terminal of said selector switch andthe normall open contact of said relay being connected to the low beamfilaments of said headlamps.

5. The combination with vehicle high and low beam headlight filamentsand an automatic control therefor dependent on the quantity of lightpresent to actuate the same and including a relay to shift energizationfrom one filament to the ther, a pair of contacts normally open andoperator actuated by means of a switch mechanism to close a line shortcircuiting the relay and causing the latter to be inoperative, saidswitch mechanism comprising a pair of normally open contacts, movablemeans to actuate these contacts, and a spring resisting actuationthereof, of a second two position ratchet type of switch actuated bysaid means positioned to require greater movement on the part of saidmeans for actuation thereof than the movement required for actuation ofthe aforesaid normally open contacts so that the latter are alwaysactuated first and the ratchet switch is not actuated except uponfurther effort applied after actuation of the normally open contacts,and wherein the said second switch energizes the low beam headlightfilaments and the automatic headlight control relay armature in its twoalternative positions.

6. The combination with vehicle high and low beam headlight filamentsand an automatic control therefor dependent on the quantity of lightpresent to actuate the same and including a relay to shift energizationfrom one filament to the other, of a pair of contacts normally closedand digitally actuated by means of a switch mechanism to open theenergizing line to the said relay to render the same inoperative, saidswitch mechanism comprising a pair of normally closed contacts, movablemeans to actuate the contacts, and a spring resisting actuating thereof,wherein a second two position ratchet type switch actuated by the saidmeans is positioned to require greater movement on the part of the saidmeans for actuation thereof than the movement required for actuation ofthe normally closed con- 7. The combination with vehicle high and lowmultifilament headlights, an automatic control therefor employing arelay switch having a coil, mechanical means to hold the relay inposition to energize the high filament, and a coil to hold the relay inposition to energize the low filament upon energization of the coil ofthe relay switch, of a single pole pressure switch and housing operableat the will of the operator to render the coil ineffective, and meansnormally maintaining the last named pressure operable switch in positionso that the relay coil is effective and so that the constant pressurethereon is necessary to keep the coil ineffective, and wherein anadditional push type ratchet switch with the aforementioned housingadapted to be mounted directly thereon so that pressure on the housingwill actuate the ratchet switch and the single pole switch in thehousing, means on the housing to actuate the ratchet switch andresilient means resisting the switch actuating means, so that pressureon the latter first causes actuation of the pole single switch andincreased pressure causes actuation of the ratchet switch, said singlepole switch being actuable without actuating the ratchet switch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,948,198 Blake Feb. 20, 1934 2,431,394 Friedman Nov. 25, 19472,493,307 Moore Jan. 3, 1950 2,598,420 Onksen May 27, 1952

